Notre Dame had a huge road win last weekend, and the Fighting Irish have certainly gotten everyone’s attention. After years of mediocrity, Notre Dame is certainly relevant again.

Take a look at the college football lines for this week and you’ll see Notre Dame is a 17 point favorite over Pitt? Can they cover? Here’s this week’s free pick from Vegas Vic:

3:30 Eastern (Saturday, November 3rd)
Pittsburgh +17 over Notre Dame
You have to figure the Irish are going to be somewhat flat in this situation if not totally flat in this situation as a double digit home favorite coming off of last weeks huge/satisfying national tv 30-13 upset road win at Oklahoma as a double digit road underdog crushing the Sooners. Lines do matter in perception. Who is the underdog and who is the favorite does matter in scheduling/situations/results. Pittsburgh is just good enough to give Notre Dame a fight and the Panthers are playing with double revenge having lost 17-23 and 12-15 the last 2 seasons vs Notre Dame. If the Irish show up flat in this situation off last weeks big win at Oklahoma they are going to be hard pressed to cover -17 points. If the Irish show up totally flat in this situation their 8-0 start ends with an outright Pittsburgh upset…

Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly (C) leaves field after his team’s 22-19 loss to the Auburn Tigers in the NCAA BCS National Championship college football game in Glendale, Arizona, January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

Will Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly have the same sour look on his face tonight after his Ducks face LSU, or will Oregon get off to another fast start. After that, will Kelly even survive the Willie Lyles scandal?

It’s been a brutal off-season for college football, as the very structure of the sport is coming under attack. Perhaps nobody is to blame, as this system has evolved over the years into a multibillion dollar business while trying to keep the myth of amateur athletics. So you end up with ridiculous rules, and big programs in trouble with tattoo scandals and potential suit scandals as college kids deal with instant fame and boosters who want to spend time with them and give them money. Then you end up with absurd results where champions like USC have to pretend they didn’t win a BCS title because one player broke the rules.

At the same time we have an absurd BCS system that is anything but fair, making a mockery of the whole season, while universities jump around from conference to conference looking for the biggest payday.

With all that, most of us are excited to have the season begin because it’s such a great sport. We love football, and we love the tradition and pageantry associated with the sport. College fans are intense and loyal. We also love our weekly office football pools and friendly wagers with friends.

Tonight we have two great games, with Oregon as a 3.5-point favorite against LSU and Boise State as a 3-point favorite against Georgia. Check out all of the college football lines for today’s games.